Facilitating use of a device based on short-range wireless technology

Abstract

Various devices may include a short-range wireless transmitter and/or one or more short-range wireless readers. When a first device including the transmitter is placed near a second device including the one or more readers, a relative location of the first device may be determined. Information regarding the relative location of the first device, may be used to facilitate use of the first device with a processing device. In one embodiment, the processing device may automatically configure itself, such that the first device may be used with the processing device. In another embodiment, the processing device may provide feedback, such as, for example, step-by-step instructions to facilitate setup and use of the first device with the processing device. In some embodiments, an application program interface may provide information about the device to an application executing on the processing device.

We claim as our invention: 
     
       1. A method for facilitating use of a first device with a second device, the method comprising:
 detecting, by a processing device, the first device based on a received short-range wireless protocol signal from the first device; 
 determining, by the processing device, based on the received short-range wireless protocol signal, a relative location of the first device with respect to the second device; 
 determining, by the processing device, an orientation of the first device; and 
 using, by the processing device, information related to the relative location of the first device and the orientation of the first device to facilitate use of the first device and the second device with the processing device by automatically configuring the processing device to work with the first device and the second device. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the short-range wireless protocol signal includes at least one of a Near Field Communication protocol signal or a Radio Frequency Identification protocol signal. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first device includes a first monitor, 
 the second device includes a second monitor, and 
 the using of the information related to the relative location of the first device to facilitate use of the first device and the second device with the processing device, further comprises:
 automatically configuring at least one processing device such that the first monitor and the second monitor are usable together. 
 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the using of the information related to the relative location of the first device to facilitate use of the first device and the second device with the processing device, further comprises:
 providing feedback to facilitate setup and use of the detected first device. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the second device includes a plurality of reader devices for reading a signal from a contactless smartcard transceiver included in the first device, and 
 the determining, based on the received short-range wireless protocol signal, of the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device, further comprises:
 using a triangulation technique, based on the signal read by the plurality of reader devices, to determine the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device. 
 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing an application program interface for passing information regarding the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device to an application. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing, via an application program interface, information about the first device to an application executing on the processing device. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the provided information includes an identifier identifying the first device. 
     
     
       9. A dynamic or static storage device having instructions stored therein such that, when the instructions are executed by at least one processor of a processing device, the processing device performs a method comprising:
 detecting, by the processing device, a first device based on a received short-range wireless protocol signal from the first device; 
 determining, by the processing device based on the received short-range wireless protocol signal, a relative location of the first device with respect to a second device and an orientation of the first device; and 
 using, by the processing device, information related to the relative location of the first device and the orientation of the first device to facilitate use of the first device and the second device with the processing device. 
 
     
     
       10. The dynamic or static storage device of  claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
 pre-registering an application executing on the processing device to receive information regarding a relative location of the first device with respect to the second device; and 
 obtaining, by the application, the information regarding the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device and an identifier identifying a type of the first device. 
 
     
     
       11. The dynamic or static storage device of  claim 10 , wherein the obtaining, by the application, the information regarding the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device and an identifier identifying a type of the first device further comprises:
 using, by the application, an application program interface to obtain the information regarding the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device and the identifier identifying the type of the first device. 
 
     
     
       12. The dynamic or static storage device of  claim 11 , wherein the using information related to the relative location of the first device and the orientation of the first device to facilitate use of the first device and the second device with the processing device further comprises:
 coordinating, by the application, use of the first device and the second device in a cooperative manner. 
 
     
     
       13. The dynamic or static storage device of  claim 10 , wherein the pre-registering an application executing on the processing device to receive information regarding a relative location of the first device with respect to the second device further comprises:
 using, by the application, an application program interface to pre-register the application to receive the information regarding the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device. 
 
     
     
       14. A processing device comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 a dynamic or static storage device connected to the at least one processor, wherein the dynamic or static storage device includes instructions for the at least one processor to perform a method comprising:
 detecting a first device based on at least one received short-range wireless signal from the first device, 
 determining, based on the at least one received short-range wireless signal, a relative location of the first device with respect to a second device and an orientation of the first device, and 
 facilitating use of the first device and the second device based on the relative location of the first device and the orientation of the first device. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The processing device of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the second device includes a plurality of reader devices for reading a signal from a contactless smartcard transceiver included in the first device, and 
 the determining a relative location of the first device with respect to a second device and an orientation of the first device further comprises:
 using a triangulation technique, based on the signal read by the plurality of reader devices, to determine the relative location of the first device with respect to the second device and the orientation of the first device. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The processing device of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the first device includes a first monitor, 
 the second device includes a second monitor, and 
 the facilitating use of the first device and the second device based on the relative location of the first device and the orientation of the first device further comprises:
 coordinating use of the first monitor and the second monitor in a cooperative manner. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The processing device of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the first device includes a digital camera having a short-range wireless transmitter, and 
 the second device includes a keyboard, the keyboard being a component of the processing device and having a plurality of readers for reading the at least one short-range wireless signal transmitted by the short-range wireless transmitter. 
 
     
     
       18. The processing device of  claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:
 obtaining an identification of the digital camera, the identification being included in the at least one wireless signal. 
 
     
     
       19. The processing device of  claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:
 obtaining signal strength information of the at least one wireless signal from the plurality of readers; and 
 the determining a relative location of the first device with respect to a second device being based, at least in part, on the obtained signal strength information. 
 
     
     
       20. The processing device of  claim 14 , wherein the facilitating use of the first device and the second device based on the relative location of the first device and the orientation of the first device further comprises:
 providing feedback to a user to facilitate use of the first device with the processing device, the feedback including step-by-step instructions for configuring the processing device for use with the first device.